Nanomedicines for Cancer Therapy: An Update of FDA Approved and Those under Various Stages of Development

Nanomaterials, with their size range (1-100 nm) that corresponds to basic biological materials such as DNA, vastly increased surface area (1000 m 2 /g) and unique mechanical, electronic, photonic and magnetic properties are projected to have a wide range of applications from drug and gene delivery to biomedical imaging and more recently to personalized medicine.The major advantages of using nanomaterials as a carrier for anticancer agents are the possibility of targeted delivery to the tumor, tumor imaging, their ability to hold thousands of molecules of a drug and also their ability to overcome solubility, stability and resistance issues.Currently, there are several nanotechnology-enabled diagnostic and therapeutic agents undergoing clinical trials and a few are already approved by the FDA.Targeted delivery of anticancer agents is achieved by exploiting a unique characteristic of the tumor cells called "the Enhanced Permeation and Retention Effect (EPR effect).In addition to this passive targeting based mainly on size, the nanoparticle surface may be modified with a variety of ligands that would interact with specific receptors over-expressed on the surface of the tumor cells, thus imparting specificity for active targeting.Site-specific release of a drug contained in a nanoparticulate system by the application of external stimuli such as hyperthermia to a thermosensitive device is another innovative strategy for targeted delivery.This review provides an update on the FDA approved cancer nanomedicines such as Abraxane, Doxil, daunoxome, Oncaspar, DepoCyt and those in nanoplatforms that have reached an advanced stage of clinical development utilizing liposomes, lipid nanoparticles, lipoplexes, albumin nanospheres, thermosensitive devices, micelles and gold nanoparticles.